Overheard In Bhopal: IAS Officer Attempts To Please CM, Retired Officer Fights Case Closure, Power Struggles In Bureaucracy & More

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh):

Attempts to please CM

A senior IAS officer, who has been posted to various departments, is putting his heart and soul into pleasing the Chief Minister. He is handling two such departments as made him take part in meetings with the CM. He also had an opportunity to go out of Bhopal to attend a few meetings with the CM in connection with one of the departments he is dealing with. Therefore, the Sahib is going all out to gratify the CM. The sahib has set his eyes on two important departments.

He wants to get posting in one of the departments by pleasing the CM who got angry with him over an issue.  Afterwards, he was sent to a department considered unimportant. He got another department because of some senior officer, but he is still away from the mainstream. Ergo he is making efforts to join an important department. There are reports that his efforts may have quelled the CM a little, but the Sahib has yet to get rid of his present situation.

For closure of file!

A retired officer is pegging away at closing a case filed against him in Lokayukta which has sought permission from the government to file challans against some officers, including the retired one. The Sahib wants the government to close the case by declining permission for his prosecution. He has already requested many people to close the case against him. The higher-ups also discussed the issue, but a decision on the file is yet to be made.

The officer is trying for a post, and he has lobbied for it. Nevertheless, the case, filed in Lokayukta for which permission has been sought for his prosecution, has become a thorn in the way of his getting the position he is vying for. The names of many other officers are connected to the case, so they are also behind the retired officer.

Bid to gain lost ground

A Principal Secretary (PS), conveyed to the loop line outside the state capital, is making all efforts to return to Mantralay. He is making rounds of Mantralay, interacting with senior officers, and seeking their help to return to any department. The officer was handed over a good position, but as he found himself enmeshed in a controversy, he had to pack up. Because the higher-ups in the government got many complaints against him, they sent him to the loop line.

The problem with the Sahib is that because he has been sent to the loop line on the one hand and because of his place of posting on the other, he may have to give up on the government house allotted to him in the state capital. PS wants to return to Bhopal. There are reports that he is seeking advice from his colleagues about how to return to the state capital. He is consulting, particularly those officers, who have come out of difficulties and regained their lost ground.

Minister’s pride deflated

A minister in the state cabinet had false pride that he was very important to the government. Just as he got the charge of a big district, he began to feel that became more influential than he had been. Nevertheless, a recent incident punctured his pride. The minister got angry at an IAS officer for his absence from a meeting. When he came out of the meeting room, the minister announced that the officer would be removed. He told another IAS officer, who was present in the meeting, to issue a show-cause notice to the officer for his absence. 

Even after the minister’s ‘firman,’ the officer was neither transferred, nor any action taken against him. As the power to transfer any officer is not in the hands of a minister, nobody is giving any weight to what he was saying about shifting the officer behind whose posting in the present department stood a powerful person. This is the reason why, despite the minister’s announcement, the IAS officer was not transferred. This incident has, however, brought the minister, who was puffed with pride, to the earth.

Hopes dashed

Hopes of a senior IPS officer, who wanted an important position, were dashed. The post he had set his eyes on was given to another officer. Some time ago, he had a crack at getting the top job in the state police. He used his political clout in MP and other states to get the coveted post, but all his efforts fell through.

When he realised that the position he had longed for was beyond his reach, he began to pull out all the stops to get one of the two other positions. Now, the officer clapped his eyes on another post. However hard may work to get the position he wants now; he barely stands any chance for it. Anyway, another IPS officer, recently posted to a department that his colleague wanted to go to, was also bidding for another organisation, but his wishes could not be fulfilled.

Who will be lucky?

Many officers are keen to know who is going to be blessed with a position considered important in the police department. After the transfer of an officer from there, the names of a few are doing the rounds for the position. Among those whose names are being discussed for the post, two are in the Malwa region. One of these is from the Chief Minister's home district.  As people in the corridors of power believe, he may be given the position. Another officer, holding an important position, may also be handed the much-talked-about post.

But his nearness to a minister is coming in the way. Likewise, there are some other officers, one of whom, if luck favours, may win the jackpot. One of them is very close to a powerful officer. As the Sahib posted in a department is holding the same position for longtime, wants a change and has shown interest in joining the position. Similarly, the name of another officer has been recommended to the head of the state for this position. About this Sahib, it is said he gets adjusted to any place. Nirendra Sharma